CHADRON, Neb. – The Chadron State spirit program made history when the Eagles cheer team earned its first-ever invitation to the National Cheer Association (NCA) national championships after a successful visit from college cheerleading's governing body. 
 
The team earned a Bronze Bid certification with a superior ribbon from NCA officials, who were on campus in Chadron earlier in August for an intensive two-day camp to both educate and evaluate the Eagle program. An NCA camp, which had never been held in Chadron prior to this year, is the only way to receive approval to compete at college cheer's highest level. 

"Getting the bid is a great opportunity for our program," CSC head spirit coach Sydney Gwerder said. "It gives us the opportunity to learn new materials, push the limits and have a chance to compete and attend nationals." 

While the NCA evaluators concluded that Chadron State's spirit program met the requirements to compete at a national level, the camp was still full of coaching and education from the guest instructors on how to make the Eagles even better. 

"They asked us what skills we were interested in learning, so that we could get some information that would be helpful in developing for this season," Gwerder said. "We were also fortunate to have a male instructor, so that the three males on our team could work with someone who had experience in that area."

The Eagle cheer team came away with several new tricks, including various stunts and a sideline pyramid, that they are excited to showcase during 2025-26 CSC gamedays. The cheer team plans to be in attendance for all home football, volleyball and basketball games this season before turning their attention to nationals in April. 

"Going to NCA still allows us to finish out our commitment to showing up on the sidelines and being there to support our teams throughout their seasons," Gwerder said. "After that, we'll have a good six weeks to prepare for competition." 

While getting a co-sign from the NCA is a big step in making cheer a competitive program, it opens up more hurdles for the CSC program to clear.

"Traveling to Daytona, Florida, where the competition is held, is a pretty significant expense," Gwerder said. "We will be focusing a lot on fundraising this year in order to make sure we can make that a reality."

Like other Chadron State sports, the cheer program has a crowdfunding platform through the Chadron State Foundation where supporters can donate to the program directly. The Eagles' cheer and dance teams also have online stores with branded t-shirts, sweatshirts and headgear available, with proceeds benefitting the program's nationals and general operating costs. Those stores, available now, close August 31^st. 

Gwerder is planning other fundraisers as well, starting with a Music Bingo night at Wild's Bar and Grill in Chadron on September 8. The cheer team is also highly visible in community events, assisting new CSC freshmen during move-in day and welcoming Chadron Middle School students at the entrance on the first day of school last week. 

The team sporadically offers tryouts and open practices to draw more interested students to join. In trying to raise the level of Chadron State's cheer team and re-establishing a dance team on campus, Gwerder said her main goal is to improve the gameday atmosphere. 

"We want more bodies out there that are all working to support our teams," Gwerder said. "That helps amplify the spirit and pump up the crowd a little bit more, but it also provides more opportunities for our students to get involved."